Karzai's Complaint Against the U.S.

11/23/2012 4:00PM

As the American military presence in Afghanistan has expanded in recent years, the Obama administration's relations with the Afghan president have declined dramatically. As WSJ Kabul correspondent Yaroslav Trofimov explains to Weekend Review editor Gary Rosen, Karzai opposed the "surge" strategy from the start and feels vindicated by its setbacks.

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

... I ... for more than a decade now the face of America's efforts to turn Afghanistan into more encouraging liberal minded correction has been coming Karzai ... has been the leader of the opposition now for some years the president of Afghanistan ... but our relationship the American religion with Karzai has not always been an easy one and now as we look ahead to American withdrawal in twenty fourteen ... tension is really brewing so what we're here to talk about this with that Yarrow a trope from of ... our ... cobble correspondent for the Journal so so so euro and it seems like a lot of this came about ... over the past three years when President Obama announced this initiative this this surge sets to tells a little bit ... about the circumstances of back and how was received ... by President Karzai ... by the Kremlin cause I had a talk ... with the election present a bomb because ... president Bush was the presents that basically installed in office but don't want ... and the new issue with the with prison should show The seven Most was for a close them and they had almost weekly media conference is ... that it lost contact all that stopped one for the model can add to the White House ... and re tried to put some distance BP and watched in Kabul and ... the initial assessment and in a new ominous Tricia was that Karzai is a problem to be dealt with in some base here officials in the White House at the time ... broadly speaking ballots piano replacing Karzai or refining ways marginalizing him ... and so chorus of that that it was a new issue from the get go ... and then came the surge came in and a dramatic ramp up of up to warn them that it's time ... for the member that present Obama tripled the number of American forces banks to move the war has been going on for twelve years ... one of three quarters of the casualties in the four ... oh where oh where did the about presidency ... so the American commitment often comes a flat SAN blood and treasure the increased exponentially ... but ... I think what was lining was going on was a lot of debate in Washington he vetoed millet re here's the department ... it was that nobody bothered to ask Mr Karzai was he really wants ... and and what he thought about this this surge ... BIDU rabbit on gifts and a very interesting having the passages in the piece you've written for weekend Revue saying back ... though the Afghan security establishment ended military were keen on the idea of the bigger American presence in and of training a much larger on the Afghan army and police force that the Karzai seemingly was never on board with this ... but Zack them in there that two separate issues one issue was the big American notion presents ... and everyone is standing out this giant army and police force open a thicket of them ... that costs RightNow M5 forty five million dollars which is multiple times the type of government budgets ... so's stupid unsustainable ... some the first count in prison cuz I know the beginning it was so was comming his concerns ... and he felt that ... sending American troops ... to upend village is ... what the culture is so different and where the Nikkei mirror NMDC BK Bureau of American soldiers is because it costs so that this is ... now this is offensive ... yes I know things and it is interesting because in a way to surge ... attempts to replicate in Afghanistan a strategy that was thought to have succeeded yet in Iraq and in cars I seem to be saying well I'm not sure ... you have the capability that kind of called troll finance ... to make it happen here so so what what sorts of tensions at that level ... is he thinking ... I think I think is basic government was putting American soldiers into often villages creates insurgents ... that instead of instead of keeping to tell because the Taleb on on on that that number ... its villages is the peasants quarter take up arms because they some we don't like and then the rally and have applied ... to his argument which was born out of a man's in many parts of the country is ... putting American forces into province in the district that she sometimes doesn't stabilize ... and and also to there's an element here two of his his seeing the threat ... elsewhere to take to Karzai's my bag as that of the real problem is Pakistan and Taleb on bases there ... is that what any ... which is you know which is what the American military and and and and and then soon officials would tell me now as well ... I mean after trying to settle for minimize the issue for years is that ... by this tiny state ... spending on to the Pakistani intelligence ... provides safe bases safe havens what bones ... funding forgot to tell them that the insurgents ... and that's what enables them to go back to the prize ... and and to keep on with this war and Santas as present as I was saying very often ... in a nice entire American ... servers days meaningless without actively she likes to ... pull the nearest yuan euro just in in finishing out the new deal in having talked to President Karzai as you did earlier in the year and other Afghan ... officials ... do they have a sense of how they might keep things together there in the absence of a big American military presence is Karzai being ... Afghanis can go alone and someone ... bought it at the same bed bath and then maybe they should now is what purposefully us had left them fourteen that's what is up for negotiations now ... and whether ... the US will maintain and twenty thousand troops ... one basis with counterterrorism forces for very long term ... or whatever they can bands Coldplay and is in Iraq ... and and keep ... the prison as an easy time making this compilation and they know what they told us is what will be a one hundred and fifty thousand troops need much to begin to tell about so one of the time to do for us ... accept the political version ... yes ... and that's that that's the shoes will for the new gal she said ... and it won't be resolved anytime soon ... thanks very much I Yarrow it's a it's a terrific piece setting out a lot of complicated issues that this president in future presidents will have to deal with onshore ... for I watch the Journal weekend Revue I'm Gary Rosen ...